[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TheWho-Tommy-Front_1101.jpg]][[caption-width-right:320:The front cover of the CD version of the album. [[note]](The LP version included superimposed images of the band members' faces, [[ExecutiveMeddling added against their wishes at the record label's insistence]].)[[/note]]]]

->''Listening to you I get the music, gazing at you I get the heat''->''Following you I climb the mountain, I get excitement at your feet''->''Right behind you I see the millions, on you I see the glory''->''From you I get opinions, from you I get the story''-->--'''Tommy''', "Listening to You" ([[ArcWords and "Go to the Mirror!"]])

'''''Tommy''''' is the fourth studio album by Music/TheWho, released in 1969. [[MagnumOpus Their best-known and most influential album]], its release [[TropeCodifier introduced the world to the concept]] of RockOpera, made the Who into a household name in Britain and the US, and propelled what had previously been a typical 60's Mod band into the annals of rock history.

Born at the end of WWI (WWII in the movie and Broadway versions) to a war widow, Tommy Walker is an ordinary child growing up in postwar Britain until his father, BackFromTheDead, comes home, finds his wife with her new lover, and kills him in self-defense before Tommy's eyes (in the Broadway version, anyway; the movie version has the new lover kill the husband in self-defense, and the album itself leaves the nature of the event deliberately ambiguous) while Tommy witnesses it all in a mirror. Traumatized by the experience, and his parents' exhortation that "You didn't hear it, you didn't see it, [[ConfusingMultipleNegatives you won't say nothing to no one ever in your life]]", Tommy is struck deaf, dumb (i.e. mute), and blind.

As Tommy grows from a boy to a young man, his disability leaves him [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer despised by his peers,]] and even his own family turns against him -- he's beaten and tortured by his cousin, sexually abused by his uncle, and his parents consider institutionalizing him. The only things keeping Tommy sane are his memories and his "visions" -- a sensation of a spirit guide showing him the true nature of the universe, which eventually manifests itself, as far as Tommy is concerned, in the most mundane of leisure activities -- {{pinball}}. He becomes a "Pinball Wizard"; even though he cannot see the machine nor hear it, he can ''feel'' the vibrations of the table under his hands, which enables him to outplay and outscore anyone. He develops a {{fandom}} because of this; his celebrity making his family rich and famous.

Eventually, he gains, or regains, his senses after a cathartic moment wherein the mirror in which he glimpsed the original murder is smashed. Free to speak for himself, Tommy becomes a spiritual leader to the fans he's gained through his playing, and seeks to create a new religion to teach the world about the revelations he acquired during his blindness. Tommy gradually discovers that his disciples are more interested in a quick fix than spiritual enlightenment; he warns them that they can't follow him through drinking, getting high, or dropping acid, and when they beg him to give them ''some'' kind of easy spiritual key he forces them to play pinball while wearing blindfolds and earplugs. In the end, the masses rebuke and abandon him - and it is then that Tommy, broken, alone, and possibly dying, finds {{God}}.

Being something that delivers plot through music, you have to make some allowances, and read into it in some places. That said, it has much more continuity than many examples of RockOpera, and has a very definite plot arc embedded in the catchy tunes. The story is heavily inspired by Pete Townshend's then-recent conversion to [[NotChristianRock the teachings of Meher Baba]] and his subsequent rejection of psychedelic drugs, a theme he would continue to explore in later albums.

In addition to the original [=LP=] and several live recordings by the Who, a number of adaptations have been produced, including:

* A 1972 recording by the London Symphony Orchestra, with members of the Who singing various parts along with other vocalists including Music/RingoStarr, Rod Stewart, and Sir Richard Harris.* A 1975 [[TheMovie film]] directed by KenRussell, which manages to be even more trippy and incoherent than the original album. Like the [=LSO=] recording, a number of guest musicians were featured, including Music/EltonJohn (whose recording of ''Pinball Wizard'' became a radio hit), Ann-Margret as Tommy's mother Nora, Music/EricClapton and Arthur Brown as the [[PreacherMan high priests of the church of Marilyn Monroe]], OliverReed as Tommy's "Uncle Frank" Hobbs (who in this version kills Tommy's father rather than the other way around), and JackNicholson, in his only singing role (barring his performance of LA Vie En Rose in AsGoodAsItGets), as Tommy's doctor. LighterAndSofter than the album, with gratuitous quantities of synthesized instrumentals and lots of LargeHam moments.* A 1993 Broadway musical, composed by Pete Townshend and Des [=McAnuff=]. The musical changes the song order from both the album and the movie versions and takes a completely different tack in the finale -- here, it's Tommy's fans who want him to lead them to enlightenment, while Tommy believes they ''shouldn't'' put themselves through what he had to suffer, and believes that normality is the greatest gift one can have.* In 1972, the salsa record company Fania made this a Salsa Opera called [[http://www.fania.com/content/hommy-latin-opera Hommy]] (pronunced Ome). The story follows the same as the original, but instead of becoming a pinball player, Hommy became a conga drum master.

See also ''Music/{{Quadrophenia}}'', Music/TheWho's second RockOpera, and ''Music/TheWall'', that ''other'' incredibly influential RockOpera.

As always, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_%28album%29 That Other Wiki]] has more info on this album.

* AdaptationDistillation: The [[TheMovie 1975 movie]] and the 1993 [[TheMusical stage musical]]. For instance, in the movie Mrs. Nora Walker's new husband is the one who murders Tommy's father (whether in self defence or not is a matter of interpretation), rather than the other way around, and the mysterious figure that guides Tommy during "Amazing Journey" is replaced with his (dead) dad, reducing the overall number of characters. In the stage version, on the other hand, the actor who plays the adult Tommy doubles as the spirit guide.* AdaptationExpansion: The movie has quite a bit of new music, and gives Nora Walker's second husband a good deal more characterization, shows more of their relationship, and even has him as an employee at a [[{{Foreshadowing}} holiday camp]].** Speaking of added details, Mrs. Walker doesn't even have a first name on the original album.* TheAlcoholic: Uncle Ernie* ArcWords: "See me, feel me, touch me, heal me..."* AuthorAppeal: The plot and theme of the opera was heavily influenced by Townshend's conversion to the teachings of Meher Baba and his simultaneous rejection of psychedelic drugs.* BigNo: [[spoiler:Tommy himself, when he sees his "Uncle Frank" get struck down and killed during "We're Not Gonna Take It" in the film.]]* BittersweetEnding[=/=]DownerEnding: "Sally Simpson", and the album as a whole.** In the film version of "Sally Simpson" this is averted by giving Sally an obviously fake scar, making her husband a FrankensteinsMonster lookalike, and at the end, having her shrug the whole thing off while dressed in expensive furs and jewels.*** Though even in the movie, she appears to now be wasting her life raising a child at an extremely young age and living in sloth, the point being that she's probably stuck in a life that will get old when she outgrows her adolescent preferences for rockstar types.* BlindSeer: Tommy, despite being blind, can still see.* BreatherEpisode: "Pinball Wizard". Perhaps this is part of how it became a BlackSheepHit.* BrickJoke: The seemingly unrelated "Pinball Wizard" later becomes important as a path to enlightenment.* BSODSong: This is what "See Me, Feel Me" becomes when reprised at the end, though it is followed by a glorious reprise of "Listening to You". It also applies to "1921" and "Christmas", and "Smash the Mirror".* CardCarryingVillain: "I'm your wicked Uncle Ernie..." And let's not forget, from "Cousin Kevin":--> ''I'm the school bully\\The classroom cheat\\The nastiest playfriend\\You ever could meet''* ConceptAlbum: One of the early ones.* ConfusingMultipleNegatives: In "1921": "You didn't hear it, you didn't see it, you won't say nothing to no one ever in your life."* CoverVersion: "Eyesight to the Blind" was originally by Sonny Boy Williamson II. Though it's rather interesting how it still fits into the plot so well.** TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: In both the album and the 1993 musical, a pimp who calls himself a "hawker" (i.e., a peddler) says that there is a prostitute of his (eventually the Acid Queen/Gypsy) whose sexual prowess can heal Tommy. In the 1975 film, however, the Hawker is replaced by a preacher and a priest of a "religious" cult of Creator/MarilynMonroe who claims that her movie-acting fame, sexual prowess, and "saintly" nature can cure Tommy on the touch of her idol statue (even though she is dead).* CreepyUncle: Uncle Ernie, an alcoholic pedophile. Even creepier is that, aside from his number "Fiddle About", the part is usually played as dark comic relief, with the 1975 and 1993 versions. (The movie in particular, as it casts Keith Moon as Ernie and he spends his entire time on camera [[HamAndCheese completely hamming it up]]. Credit must also be given to Ringo Starr, who similarly hammed it up as Ernie in the London Symphony Orchestra recording.)* CueTheSun: During the band's performance at {{Woodstock}}, the climactic moment of ''See Me, Feel Me'' happened to coincide precisely with [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome the morning sun breaching the horizon]]. The group had a lighting rig (then a rarity) constructed to replicate this effect for later performances.* CuteMute: Tommy before he regains his senses (especially palpable in the movie, where he's played by a spaced-out Roger Daltrey).* DeathByAdaptation: Captain Walker in the 1975 film adaptation. Also Nora Walker (Tommy's mother) at the end of the film.* DisabilitySuperpower: One interpretation is that Tommy can feel things as music, hence the RockOpera part.** There's also the idea floated in "Pinball Wizard" that Tommy's skill at pinball derives from his disabilities.---> ''He ain't got no distractions, can't hear no buzzers and bells / Can't see no lights a-flashin', plays by sense of smell''* DisneyAcidSequence: Most of the movie, especially the Acid Queen's scene. [[NightmareFuel And it]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cKCGgmaSIEit isn't a good trip...]] * DisposableFiance[=/=]AssholeVictim: In the 1993 musical, the boyfriend talks about getting married with Tommy's mother. However, when her husband comes back home from the war, the mother feels surprised and relieved that he's alive after all, and the boyfriend soon becomes a {{jerkass}} by acting hostile toward Tommy's parents and attempting to kill the father. Fortunately, the father disposes of him by shooting him dead in the struggle.* DistinctDoubleAlbum: Ten tracks on disc one, 12 on disc two. * EpicInstrumentalOpener: The album starts off this way.* EvenTheGuysWantHim: In the director's commentary for the DVD release of the movie, Film/KenRussell and the interviewer with him spend quite some time at one point gushing about Roger Daltrey's body.* EvilLaugh: There's some in "Tommy's Holiday Camp" on the ''Live at Leeds'' version.* EvilUncle: Ernie. He molests Tommy, and then exploits his cure, and later his fame, as well as his fans.* ExtraExtraReadAllAboutIt: In "Miracle Cure", and in ([[CaptainObvious what else?]]) "Extra Extra" from the 1975 film adaptation.* FanDisillusionment: In-universe.* {{Fandom}}: Has one in-universe and something of one in RealLife.* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Go to the Mirror!" (see HilariousInHindsight). Also interesting is "Overture" (the first track) which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin foreshadows the rest of the album by containing all]] [[RecurringRiff the most important riffs]].** There's also a bit of it in TheMovie with the holiday camp near the beginning.* HeroicBSOD: The whole point of the story. It's about a boy who is traumatized and checks out for most of his life. When he wakes up he continues to act in a way that suggests that he is still not fully connected to reality.* HollywoodToneDeaf: In the film version, Keith Moon's [[CreepyUncle Uncle Ernie]] tone-deaf "singing" sounds as if he [[TalkLikeAPirate talks like a]] [[UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry West Country]] [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents pirate]].* InspirationallyDisadvantaged: Actually played with quite interestingly. He's so inspirationally disadvantaged that an entire religion forms around him, and he has a legion of followers who want to be just like him. It turns sour when they realize that to be just like him and learn all he's learned they would first have to suffer just like him. After that they... Well, they aren't too happy. [[InvertedTrope Played in an inverted fashion]] in the stage version, where Tommy's followers ''want'' to be like him, but he ''doesn't'' want them to; his ridiculous requirements of them are played more obviously as a (successful) attempt to turn them off.* IAmSong: Some very literal examples in the lyrics to "Cousin Kevin" ("I'm the school bully / The classroom cheat"), "Acid Queen" ("I'm the gypsy / The acid queen"), and "Fiddle About" ("I'm your wicked Uncle Ernie!")* IronicBirthday: Inverted in the 1993 musical: As 4-year-old Tommy, his mother, and her new lover celebrate her 21st birthday, her presumed-dead husband arrives and breaks up by engaging in a fight between him and the boyfriend that soon leaves the boyfriend dead... all the while the mother tries turning Tommy away from the fight toward the mirror... with which he witnesses said fight by looking at it, after which the parents soon get surprised by what they see before the father gets arrested. Whoops!* KarmaHoudini: The antagonists, namely Uncle Ernie, get no real comeuppance for what they've done to Tommy.* KidsAreCruel: Cousin Kevin.--> ''Do you know how to play hide and seek?\\To find me it would take you a week\\But tied to that chair you won't go anywhere\\There's a lot I can do to a freak''** And after that the song turns into him listing all the assorted things he could do to Tommy (burning his arm with a cigarette and dunking his head underwater (and spraying him with a fire hose outside from upstairs in the film version), among others).*** Songwriter John Entwistle was inspired by his childhood experiences with a bullying neighbor kid, with whom his parents inexplicably left him on a regular basis (John eventually beat up the bully when he realized he'd grown tall enough to look the other kid in the eye).* LargeHam: This shows up a lot in every version except the original album.* LastNoteNightmare: "Tommy's Holiday Camp" is a fun, commercial-like jingle welcoming visitors to the cult of the Pinball Wizard himself, sung cheerfully by his sexual predator uncle, Ernie. At the end of the song, Ernie decides he'll exclaim "Welcome!", but, deviating from the happy tone of the rest of the song, does so in a scratchy and ominous voice.* {{Leitmotif}}: In the form of {{Recurring Riff}}s, appropriately enough for a RockOpera.* LicensedPinballTables: Appropriately enough, the album has ''three'' of them:** [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally]] released ''[[Pinball/{{Wizard}} Wizard!]]'' in 1975, "inspired" by the film. It featured the likenesses of Roger Daltry and Ann-Margret on the backglass, but was otherwise only tangentially related.** Bally released ''Pinball/CaptainFantasticAndTheBrownDirtCowboy'' a year later, named after Music/EltonJohn's hit album and featured him dressed as The Local Lad from the movie.** In 1994, Creator/DataEast released ''[[Pinball/TheWhosTommy The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard]]'' (usually shortened to just ''Tommy''). As a fully-licensed pinball machine, it includes 21 songs from the soundtrack sung by the cast of the Broadway show.* LovableSexManiac: Uncle Ernie, or at least Keith Moon's hammy portrayal of him.* LyricalDissonance: More subtlety in most cases, but it's there.* MedicineShow:[[TheCoverChangesTheMeaning Repurposes]] Sonny Boy Williamson II's "Eyesight To The Blind" as the cry of a hawker advertising one of these.--> ''Well you talk about your woman, I wish you could see mine''--> ''You talk about your woman, I wish you could see mine''--> ''When she gets on to lovin' she brings eyesight to the blind''* MessianicArchetype: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]; Tommy is convinced that his experiences gained from his self-imposed exile from reality have given him some sort of spiritual insight into reality and gathers a small cult about him. His family tries to make money off of his cult, and his followers largely miss the point and ultimately reject his message.* MinorCharacterMajorSong: "Pinball Wizard" is a popular song that gets talked about a lot, but you'd be lucky to find someone outside of the Tommy fandom who knows that the real name of the minor character who sings it is officially credited as the Local Lad.* MiserAdvisor: Tommy's adoptive dad in the movie, as well as uncle Ernie in both versions.* MovieBonusSong: A few of them: "Bernie's Holiday Camp", "Extra Extra" (set to the tune of "Miracle Cure"), "Champagne", "Mother and Son", and "TV Studio".** Although not Movie Bonuses, a few new songs are included in the musical: "We've Won", "I Believe My Own Eyes", and "Sally's Question".* MsFanservice: In the 1973 movie, during a drunken dream/hallucination, Ann-Margret smashes a TV set with a champagne bottle, releasing a gout of bubbles ([[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext and then canned beans, and chocolate]]) that she writhes orgasmically in. Fans of Ann-Margret specifically or busty redheads in general will not be disappointed.* MundaneMadeAwesome[=/=]SeriousBusiness: {{Pinball}}. In the film, he doesn't wear a blindfold/earplugs, so it appears his massive following is simply based on being the pinball champ regardless of disability. * NoEnding: The movie, though a case can be made for WhatNowEnding.* NotChristianRock: The album is heavily permeated by the tenets of Townshend's new-found faith in the teachings of Meher Baba, and Townshend describes the "Listening To You" finale as being a prayer in musical form.* OnlySaneMan: The doctor in "Go To The Mirror!" He's the one person who finally deduces that Tommy's condition is psychosomatic, and he (briefly) considers the sort of isolation shock that recovering his senses will cause.* PapaWolf: Captain Walker in the 1993 musical. And he's not very happy when he discovers his wife and son with her new {{jerkass}} lover on her 21st birthday!** Frank in the film: when he finds that Uncle Ernie may have molested Tommy, he sets his newspaper on fire. He also tries fighting off some of the Rioters trying to attack Tommy. [[spoiler: They overpower and kill Frank, though.]]* ParentalObliviousness: Tommy's parents, who only offer token concern at leaving him alone with his cousin Kevin or uncle Ernie (the latter even being drunk at the time!).* PetTheDog: What the parents did to make Tommy blind, deaf and dumb is horrible, but the flim version shows them trying to either make his life better or cure him of his illness. Special points go to Frank the Stepdad in the film who tries to get Tommy to do things normal kids do in amazing journey such as ride amusement park rides and play arcade games. He even found a competent doctor that diagnosed the root of Tommy's problem. Sure, later on they exploit his newfound enlightenment for money, but they are not entirely horrible people. * {{Pinball}}: [[CaptainObvious "Pinball Wizard", of course.]]** [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally]] produced a RealLife ''Wizard!'' [[PhysicalPinballTable pinball machine]] "InspiredBy" the 1975 film, with Ann-Margret in the promotional material.** Creator/DataEast later produced ''The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard'', a proper LicensedPinballTable.* RecurringRiff: And all of them appear in the first track--"[[{{Foreshadowing}} Overture]]"* RecycledSoundtrack: "Sally Simpson" and "We're Not Gonna Take It" started out as unrelated pop ballads that Townshend re-worked to fit into the story - the former was originally a story about a groupie at a rock concert featuring a [[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]] {{Expy}}, while the latter was a ProtestSong about fascism. The group wanted to put a cover of Mose Allison's "Young Man Blues" in but couldn't find a place to make it fit.* RockOpera: [[TropeMakers The first one to become popular, in fact.]]* RockOperaPlot: Though with more NightmareFuel than usual...* ShootTheShaggyDog: The film version at least. It turns very cruel very quickly in the last ten minutes.* {{Shotacon}}: Uncle Ernie.--> ''Your mother left me here to mind you, now I'm doing what I want to\\Fiddling about, fiddling about, fiddle about\\Down with your bed clothes, up with your nightshirt\\Fiddle about, fiddle about, fiddle about...''* ShoutOut: In the film version of "Eyesight to the Blind", a religious cult led by PreacherMan Music/EricClapton brings out a statue of Creator/MarilynMonroe in her pose from ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'' hoping that her touch can cure Tommy. This whole scene is pure, unadulterated FauxSymbolism.** In the 1993 musical, Captain Walker is the PapaWolf killing [[AssholeVictim his wife's lover]] in self-defense, which is an ironic shout-out to the 1975 film in which the lover does the same to Tommy's dad in self-defense.* SingleIssuePsychology: After years of attempts to treat him, all it takes to snap Tommy's trauma-induced catatonia is for his mother to smash the mirror he saw the murder in. Then he's instantly cured and can talk again.* SparedByTheAdaptation: Played straight with lover Frank at first in the 1975 film adaptation, but then {{subverted|Trope}} at the end of the film when the angry mob kills him and Nora Walker.* SummonBackupDancers: {{Averted|Trope}}. Townshend told Des [=McAnuff=], the 1993 musical's book writer and director, that he wanted "no fucking dancing."* SympatheticPOV: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] during "Pinball Wizard" where the POV switches to a pinball champion that Tommy defeats. The character himself isn't very important to the plot, but when comparing his character to all of the people singing the {{Villain Song}}s, it makes the villains singing them seem far, far worse. [[MisaimedFandom Though for some reason]], [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation some of the fandom]] seems to interpret it as if said pinball champ is merely a SissyVillain.** Also "Sally Simpson."* TakeThat: "Bernie's Holiday Camp" and "Tommy's Holiday Camp" are parodies of Butlin's, a holiday camp that working-class Britons frequented during summer vacations.* TakingTheBullet: Tommy's mother Nora takes a knife slash directed at Tommy near the end of the movie.* TeenPregnancy: Mrs. Walker at the beginning of the 1993 musical, who is pregnant at age 16 during WorldWarII.* ThereAreNoTherapists: See below.* TooDumbToLive: Tommy's parents, who can't find a (competent) doctor for him until 3/4ths through the story. And said doctor ''lives in the same town they do''. They take him to [[NightmareFuel the Acid Queen]] before that!** [[{{Fanon}} Some might interpret it]] as a criticism of the anti-psychiatry movement of TheSixties.* UnnamedParent: Both of Tommy's parents are unnamed in both the album and the 1993 musical, though in the film version his mother has a name: Nora Walker.* UnusualEuphemism: "Fiddle About," which actually makes things creepier. (Although "kiddie fiddler" has been a British euphemism since at least the 1860s.)* VillainSong: [[CreepyUncle "Fiddle About"]], [[MiserAdvisor "Tommy's Holiday Camp"]] [[DisneyAcidSequence "The Acid Queen"]] and [[TeensAreMonsters "Cousin Kevin"]].** Note that Kevin and Uncle Ernie's songs were written by John Entwistle -- Pete Townshend gave John the responsibility because he felt he himself didn't have the guts to be sufficiently sadistic.** The film adds "Bernie's Holiday Camp" for the lover.* WalkingShirtlessScene: Tommy himself in the movie, after he gets his senses back. Though, granted, it's more like running shirtless ''underwater and on the lava from an active volcano.'' * WelcomingSong: "Welcome", Tommy greeting his followers, and "Tommy's Holiday Camp", Uncle Ernie welcoming the saps they're exploiting.* YouDidntSeeThat: Causes Tommy to go blind and deaf via ExactWords.